Complaint about threats to kill Kadyrov's critics lodged to Chechnya's SC

A complaint has been sent to the Supreme Court (SC) of Chechnya against the decision of a Grozny court, which had refused to acknowledge investigators' inaction on the complaint of human rights defenders against the threats pronounced by Ramzan Kadyrov. This was announced by the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 22, 2020, the HRC "Memorial" and the Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG) lodged an application to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) that the calls for murders voiced out by Kadyrov undermined the authorities prestige and could be perceived by the subordinates of the head of Chechnya as a guide to action.

On January 15, 2021, the court refused to consider the complaint on the grounds that there was no subject for the appeal.

"The result is a vicious circle: investigators refuse to issue a ruling on rights defenders' statements; and the court refuses to consider the complaint about investigators' inaction since they had not issued a ruling," says the press release.

Human rights defenders doubt a fair hearing of the complaint at the SC.

After Kadyrov's statements, his instructions are being implemented, said Alexander Cherkasov, the chairman of the HRC "Memorial". "In February 2020, in Grozny, an attack was committed on the lawyer, Marina Dubrovina, and the journalist, Elena Milashina, as well as an attempt on the life of the Chechen blogger, Tumso Abdurakhmanov, living in Sweden. In July, 2020, Mamikhan Umarov, a Chechen blogger, was assassinated in Vienna," Mr Cherkasov has recalled.